Switchfoot Surfing USA

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Drummer Chad Butler talks about the rhythm of the waves, annoying theme songs, and Mennen deodorant.

By Spence D.

San Diego rocker Switchfoot never seem to escape the trappings of their beach laden SoCal environ. Rarely can you pick up and read an article about the band without seeing the word surfing tucked somewhere into the paragraphs. Then again, when surfing is such a big part of who the band members are when they're not in the studio or out on tour, can you blame folks for focusing on the subject? I made a pact with myself to avoid any mention of surfing when drummer Chad Butler rang me up recently at 10am on a sunny Thursday morning. Such a pact was held up on my end, but Chad quickly tossed out any chances of avoiding the subject and the conversation quickly veered into the greenroom once our introductions had been made.

"The waves are good today, too," Butler says after the obligatory conversation starters about the weather and whatnot had been exhausted. Thankfully our interview wasn't keeping him from the waves. "I'm going later," he clarified rather quickly as we settled into a languid discussion about sand and sea. "I've got all these bookmarks on my computer for meteorological forecasts, storm charts, and all that stuff," he tosses in with a laugh.

To put Butler's obsession in perspective (and it's not just him who is a surfing fiend, but the rest of the band, as well), he's got a stash of 12 boards. "I probably own a dozen," he says matter-of-factly. "I don't know if that's routine, but I'm definitely pretty lucky. I've been collecting surfboards for a long time and I've got one for every condition you can think of, from small waves to big waves."

Those in the know have long been keen to Switchfoot's surfing fetish. But the real question is whether or not the guys in the band are able to take anything from surfing and apply it to their music or vice/versa. "You know, I think it's a big part of our culture here, you know, growing up in San Diego on the beach," explains Butler. "I think as a sport it has somewhat of a correlation with art in general just because you're sort of looking at waves as a blank canvas. For me, as far as an inspiration for playing music, it's always been a great escape from all the noise of the daily routine. You kind of jump out in the ocean and you're in another world. There's always those incredible moments when you're out there and the sun is setting and the dolphins are going by. You can't compare that to anything on land. Then there's also those moments when you've got 10 of your friends out there and you're just goofing around having a good time. It's sort of the best-of-both-worlds; you can be isolated or you can be in the midst of a lot of friends"

"I think my favorite aspect of being into a sport like surfing is the chase, the search for good waves. You're always traveling around wherever the waves are hitting that day to a different beach," Butler reveals. Just how searching for the perfect wave fits in with Switchfoot's rigorous recording and touring schedule would seem to be anybody's guess. Chances are those guesses would be way off the mark, too, considering that the guys in the band make damn sure that they can get some wave time when they're out on the road. "We actually try to tour wherever there's a good surf spot, the major coastal cities," says Butler. "We always try to bring our boards on tour with us in the back of the bus."

What about those stops in towns far removed from the ebb and flow of the ocean? "We even get desperate when we're in the landlocked middle of the country. We'll bust out our surfboards and rent a boat for a day, if we have a day off near a lake," laughs Butler. "We've even done the wave pool thing, believe it or not. There's a couple of places around the country where they have a decent wave pool. It's definitely desperate times when you have to resort to the wave pool or behind the boat, but it's better than sitting on the tour bus."

Given Butler's role as the rhythm keeper, does he ever hear new drumbeats thumping around his head when he's out on his board? "90% of surfing is laying on your board paddling," says Butler. "There's definitely a rhythm there as you're getting out in the water and catching waves. It's funny, though. I heard Eddie Vedder once say that he would write all of his lyrics out in the ocean; that he was inspired by the beauty around him. For me, I always get really lame songs stuck in my head while I'm out surfing. Something like "Gilligan's Island" where you're trying to shake it the whole time and saying 'Man, how did this get stuck in my head?' And every time you get back down to paddle on your board that song starts resonating in your head again. I heard Eliot Smith used to recite the deodorant commercial, the one that goes "&#Array;by Mennen!" So I always end up singing "&#Array;by Mennen!" to clear "Gilligan's Island" out of my head so I can actually think about a good song." Surfing, rock 'n' roll, and the Mennen Principle. What could be better than that?